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Nuggets of Wisdom

Saturday, November 8, 2014

MLP:FIM: The Dark Stallion - Episode 02

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic presentsThe Dark StallionEpisode 02: My Name Is Sky Wind. I Remember Nothing Else.*****Last time on My Little Pony:When a new unicorn named Xander began frequenting the Ponyville library, who he was and what he was researching raised suspicions among Twilight and her friends. Meanwhile, a magical storm was conjured by a kappa wizard, Squish, in order to destroy the town dam. His attempts were thwarted by the new unicorn. Afterwards, Xander revealed how he has been searching for the Amulet of Purity, an ancient artifact of untold power. Will he find what he’s looking for in Ponyville, and what of this new foe, Squish?*****

Twilight awoke in the middle of the night to use the little filly's room. Passing by her bedroom door, she noticed a faint light shining from downstairs. Stepping outside, she saw Xander hunched over a table, his head resting upon a book like a pillow. Apparently, he had decided to do some late night studying and had fallen asleep while doing so.

Twilight quietly giggled to herself before heading downstairs. She used her magic to levitate a blanket and drape it over Xander's shoulders. She gently leaned over the table to blow out the candle that had by now nearly burnt out.

“Good night,” she whispered into Xander’s ears before making her way back upstairs.

*****

The next morning, Rainbow Dash was busy zipping across the sky to clear away the excess clouds that had formed during yesterday's storm. As always, she had cleared away the clouds in record time. She flew over to a lone cloud to sit and admire her handiwork.

Just then, a loud crash erupted behind her, nearly causing her to fall off her cloud. She turned to see something--or rather, someone--plummeting toward the ground. Even though it had flown past her at breaking speed, Dash recognized the falling object as a pegasus.

In a gasp, Dash dove off the cloud and after him. She soon gained enough speed to fly alongside him as the two of them began nearing the ground. Inspecting him, she noticed that his eyes were barely open and his wings were lifelessly limp. Dash wrapped her legs around his body and lifted her wings, causing the two pegasi to glide across the ground before either could crash into it. Unfortunately for them, they flew into the marketplace, crashing through a series of carts and stalls until finally crash landing into a stall of rugs.

The crowd around them began to panic as they crowded around the two fallen pegasi.

Dash had just enough strength remaining in her to pick her head up and look at the pegasus she had saved. He was purple with wavy black hair, black ears, wings, and hooves. His eyes, barely open, were green like his cutie mark—a gust of wind.

Those were the most details Rainbow Dash could recognize before she quickly collapsed and passed out.

*****

The hospital doors burst open as Twilight and the others rushed toward the hospital desk.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight exclaimed, nearly pouncing on the desk and Nurse Redheart behind it. “Where is she? What happened to her? Is she okay?”

“She’s doing just fine,” Nurse Redheart said. “The other pegasus too. Their injuries are minor, nothing major. They should be fine in a few days.”

Twilight and the others gave a collective sigh of relief.

“However—” Redheart continued.

“What?” Twilight asked as a feeling of dread washed over her.

“The other pegasus is suffering from amnesia,” Redheart finished. “Poor thing can’t remember a thing aside from his own name. Must have been the impact.”

Redheart sat up from the desk and motioned for the five to follow her. “If you want to see them, they're down this way.”

She led the five down the hallway and to the room where Rainbow Dash was staying. Donned in a hospital gown and wrapped in bandages, Dash sat upright in her bed as she read a Daring Do book, barely noticing the others until they reached her bed.

She peered up from her book and immediately lit up in her expression. “Twilight!”

“How are you feeling, Dash?” Twilight asked, placing her hoof on the bedrail.

“Well, I’ve felt better, but no worse than the last time I was in the hospital,” Dash replied. “But I’m only a little scratched this time. Doctor said I should be up and flying in a few days. Nothing can keep this pegasus down.”

“So what ever happened, dear?” Rarity asked.

“I was clearing the sky, minding my own business, when I saw this guy falling towards earth like a meteorite.” Rainbow Dash pointed to the purple pegasus sitting in the adjacent hospital bed. He was also sitting upright, but was staring at his bed sheet, only glancing at the others for a brief second before returning his gaze downward.

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash replied. “I tried talking to him, but I haven’t been able to get anything out of him other than his name. I’ll say this though: he’s more talkative than my last hospital roommate.”

Sky Wind shook his head. “The only other thing I remember before blacking out was being saved by an angel.”

“Oh, you weren’t saved by an angel,” Fluttershy replied. “You were saved by Rainbow Dash here.”

Sky Wind blushed. “Like I said, by an angel.”

Everyone else gave a collective gasp.

Rainbow Dash held her hoof to her face to hide her blush. “Aww! It was nothing. I saved plenty of ponies before, all in like 20 seconds flat.”

“Umm, Sky Wind,” Fluttershy asked. “I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but how does it feel having amnesia?”

Sky Wind gazed down again, his mood darkening once more. “Scary, especially knowing I’m in a place I’ve never been before with ponies I never met, not to mention that I don’t know when I’ll get my memories back. The nurse said it could be anywhere from a few hours or a few days or even weeks or months. There’s a chance I’ll never get them back. That’s the scariest feeling of all.”

“Well I can’t exactly leave you alone to fend for yourself, now can I?” Dash replied. “Once we’re out of here, you can crash at my place and work with me as long as you need to.”

For the first time since he could remember, which was faint for his condition, Sky Wind gave a smile. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash.”

*****

By the end of the week, the two pegasi were dismissed from the hospital. Sky Wind stayed at Rainbow Dash’s cloud palace where he was nursed until his injuries healed. A few days later, he and Rainbow Dash went outside to practice their flying.

“Now that you’re feeling better, it’s time for a little physical therapy,” Dash explained. “First things first: flying. You do remember how to fly, do you?”

Sky Wind chuckled. “Of course I remember that,” he said, flapping his wings and floating over the ground.

“Good!” Dash pointed to a nearby tree. “Then you’ll have no problem flying over there."

Dash soon found herself spinning in place as Sky Wind zipped past her. When she stopped, she saw him reclining against the tree, obviously proud of his feat.

“Not bad!” Dash said, clearly impressed.

She pointed to a cloud right above her. “Now try flying to that—” Before she could finish her sentence, Sky Wind was sitting on the cloud looking down on her from above. “—Cloud?”

“Am I doing okay?” Sky Wind asked.

Rainbow Dash smiled as she placed both hooves on her hips. “I have to say you’re pretty fast—though not as fast as me.”

“Oh really?” Sky Wind asked with a laugh, leaping off the cloud and performing two summersaults before landing on the ground. “Prove it!”

Those were the two words Rainbow Dash loved to hear the most, which showed through her devilish smile.

“You—me—race.” She pointed to a mountain upon the far-off horizon. “All the way to that mountaintop.”

Sky Wind got into position as an athlete. “It’s on."

Rainbow Dash stood next to him in a similar position. “When I say go—GO!”

She had already taken off with her rainbow trail lingering behind.

Sky Wind was briefly caught off guard before taking off right behind her. “Hey, no fair! That’s cheating!”

“All’s fair in love and war,” Dash yelled back at him.

Sky Wind soon caught up with her. “That depends: is this love, or war?”

The two flew neck-to-neck, each one trying to out-fly the other. One moment, Dash was in the lead; then, it was Sky. In less than a minute, both had reached the mountain, collapsing next to each other onto a nearby cloud.

“I win!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, raising her hooves, laughing.

“No, me!” Sky Wind rebutted, also laughing.

Both lay next to each other, laughing, trying to catch their breath. Neither of them cared who really won. They were clearly having fun together.

“You know, it’s been a while since I raced some pony like that,” Rainbow Dash said. “Except maybe Applejack, but she’s an earth pony, not a pegasus like you.”

“Yeah, I can’t remember the last time I had fun racing some pony like you either,” Sky Wind added. “Then again, I can’t really remember anything.”

Both giggled.

“Then I think it’s safe to tell you that I’m the fastest pony in Ponyville—Equestria even!” Dash said. “There’s no one faster than me.”

A black blur suddenly soared in between Rainbow Dash and Sky Wind, spinning them around in circles and nearly causing them to fall of their cloud. Once they had stopped, they both held their heads as their eyes rolled within them.

Rainbow Dash shook her head furiously to snap out of her dizziness, then glared angrily at the creature racing away.

Upon hearing Rainbow Dash, the black blur halted. It turned to face the two pegasi, revealing himself to be a humanoid creature with the wings and head of a black crow—a crow tengu.

His body was covered with black feathers, and he was dressed in a purple robe with a long, flowing red scarf around his neck. His hands and feet were talons. In his right hand, he held a khakkhara—a staff with a golden ring on top with several other rings dangling within it.

The tengu glared at the two pegasi with his red eyes, the left one with a deep red scar over it. He snarled, flying back towards the two.

Sky Wind took a nervous gulp. Rainbow Dash remained angry.

“Youse talking to me?” the tengu demanded in a gruff Brooklyn accent.

“Who else could it be?” Rainbow Dash replied as she placed her forehooves on her hips. “You’re the only one who went flying by like a maniac.”

“I guess I did,” the tengu replied, staring down the two ponies menacingly. “Youse two got a problem with that?”

Sky Wind shirked back, but Rainbow Dash stood her ground.

“I have nothing against flying fast,” she said. “But if you want to do that, you need to watch where you’re going. We all have to share the same sky, you know!”

The tengu scratched his chin, then smirked. “I guess youse is right. I’m awfully sorry. The name's Swoosh. Here, allow me and my buddies to offer you a token of my sincerest apology.”

With that, Swoosh put his talon to his beak and whistled. All around him and the two pegasi appeared explosions of purple smoke, from which appeared violet pegasi with glowing red eyes. Rainbow Dash and Sky Wind shirked back in fright.

“How’s about a trip to the school of hard knocks,” Swoosh laughed as he began circling the two. “C’mon boys! Let’s send these here two lovebirds for a spin!”

The purple pegasi followed suit and began flying around Rainbow Dash and Sky Wind at break-neck speeds. Before either of them could realize it, they were trapped within a vortex, spinning around furiously until being spat out. The two fell upon a nearby cloud where, upon crash landing, they turned back to see a tornado furiously spinning behind them.

Swoosh and the shadowy pegasi stopped spinning around, and with a mighty flap of their wings, sent the twister flying in the direction of Ponyville in the distance.

The tengu laughed like the cawing crow he was. “Alright boys, let’s head out! Ponyville will soon be in Oz!”

The shadowy pegasi disappeared into clouds of smoke as he himself flew away.

Dash and Wind watched on in horror as the tornado barreled towards Ponyville.

“Oh no!” Dash exclaimed, racing off towards the twister. “We have to do something before it hits Ponyville.”

“What?” Sky Wind exclaimed, chasing after her. “How are we supposed to stop a tornado?”

“If it was created by those creeps flying around in circles,” Dash thought out loud, “Then maybe circling in the opposite direction will kill it.”

“We’re going to have to fly awfully fast to do that,” Sky Wind said.

Rainbow Dash grabbed his hoof. “Then we’ll have to do this together.”

Sky Wind smiled upon feeling her touch.

The two soared ahead and began circling the tornado in the opposite direction it was spinning. The two held onto each other’s hooves as they flew faster and faster. Both felt as if they could barely continue, as if the centrifugal force would slingshot them away in a heartbeat. But they persevered, the grasp each had on the other encouraging them to go on.

Over in Ponyville, everyone was in sheer panic.

“A disaster!” Daisy screamed, “A horrible, horrible disaster!”

“The horror, the horror!” Lily screamed.

“It’s heading right towards us!” Rose Luck cried.

But as the tornado approached the city limits, it began to gradually slow down until eventually dying off completely.

All the town ponies stopped, astonished by the sudden change of weather. They noticed where the tornado used to be was an encircling rainbow and dark trail, which soon died down, revealing Rainbow Dash and Sky Wind. The two collapsed to the ground, exhausted from their heroic feat.

The pegasi were greeted by a giant cheering crowd who scooped the both of them up and began carrying them into town.

“Three cheers for Rainbow Dash and her brave friend!” They cheered.

Rainbow Dash picked her head up as she was carried off, looking across to Sky Wind being carried beside her. He too, looked over at her. Both we clearly tired, but happy, smiling at each other as the ponies around them cheered.

*****

Later that day, Rainbow Dash and Sky Wind sat upon a cloud as they watched the sunset in the distance.

“What a day!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “You’re first time flying and you manage to stop a tornado.”

Sky Wind giggled. “Well, to be fair, I received a lot of help from you.”

The two sighed as they returned their attention back to the setting sun.

Sky Wind then returned his gaze to Dash. “Speaking of which, do you remember that tengu that started the whole mess, and those strange pegasi who were with him?”

“What about them?” Dash asked.

Sky Wind gazed into the corner of his eyes, slightly unsure of what he was about to say. “For some reason, I feel as though I’ve seen them before.”

Dash looked at him with one eyebrow raised. “Huh? What do you mean?”

Sky Wind returned his gaze to her. “I’m not sure, but I think I may have known them from somewhere. They just seemed awfully familiar.” He hung his head. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just trying too hard to remember my lost memories.”

“Well don’t try too hard,” Dash replied, “Otherwise, you’ll end up remembering things that never really happened in the first place. I know you really want your memory back, but I guarantee you’ll get it back eventually.”

Sky Wind sighed and nodded in agreement. “Now that you mention it, I do remember one thing.”

Dash turned to Sky Wind, eyebrow raised. “What’s that?”

Sky Wind smiled ear to ear with a giggle. “I remember beating you in that race earlier.”

Dash scoffed. “Now you really are remembering things that never happen!”

Sky Wind shook his head. “Oh, but I do remember that quite clearly. I beat you in that race.”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

The two gazed into each other’s eyes—Dash with slight annoyance, Sky Wind with mischeviousness.

Dash flapped her wings twice and faced the sunset, getting into a runner’s position. “Well, let’s settle this in another race. You, me, the last cloud on the horizion.”

Sky Wind also assumed a runner’s position. “Fine. When I say go—GO!”

This time, Dash was left spinning as Sky Wind left a dark trail lingering behind.

Rainbow Dash regained herself and took off after him. “Hey, no fair!”

The two laughed as they raced towards the setting sun.

*****

Twilight Sparkle: Hey, it’s me, Twilight.

Fluttershy: Oh my! There’s been so many robberies in Ponyville lately.

Pinkie Pie: It must have been ninjas!

Twilight Sparkle: Pinkie, it was probably just a burglar.

Pinkie Pie: I still say it was ninjas.

Twilight Sparkle: Oh, it is ninjas! Gasp! And they have us surrounded. How are we going to get out of this one?

Pinkie Pie: Hey! Who’s the guy with the sword?

Fluttershy: Next time on My Little Pony: "Enter Ninja Star, The Stalwart Swordpony."